We'll start with concrete made out of lunar soil, and we'll probably 3D print the road.
Plans for a future mining base and missions like the planned 2025 Artemis III landing on the moon are about to launch a new era of humanity's wider presence in our solar system. The wildest imaginings of numerous authors and filmmakers who have portrayed humans on the moon pale in the face of our reality—as we take concrete action to make the moon a true, working scientific colony. ✅ The two keys to long-term infrastructure like roads and science station habitats: 1. Sustainable creation of materials that can be sourced and processed locally on the moon 2. Moon-based machinery that can construct the infrastructure on site To develop the necessary technologies, NASA is investing in engineering innovations from both academia and industry. Among other investments, the space agency awarded Austin-based 3D-printing company Icon a $57.2 million contract in 2022 to build lunar roads and other infrastructure. Within the space program, the Artemis missions will set the groundwork for a long-term, sustained human presence on the moon, including demonstrations of moon-mining tools to extract metals. On the academia side, engineers like Sven G. Bilén , a professor at Penn State University, are investigating workable designs for lunar surface infrastructure, including 3D printing for habitats and roads, and the use of microwaves to power a variety of lunar applications. Why We Need Roads on the Moon Roads on the moon aren't just meant to look futuristic and cool. Driving around on bare regolith (the moon's loose top layer of dust, soil, and broken rock) is known to cause problems—hazardous ones. The Apollo astronauts got around just fine in their lunar buggies. But they quickly realized they were bringing unwanted dust back into the rover with them. "First off, the regolith has not been weathered, like sand or gravel on Earth. So it's like jagged little razor blades. And those razor blades get into every single joint, every single rubber gasket, and just eat them away,"…